President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal has called for trillions of dollars in cuts on many safety net and other domestic programs that focus on everything from the environment and education to student loans and scientific research, whilst upping the spend on defense, border security and infrastructure.
In a statement, Rea Carey, National LGBTQ Task Force executive director called the budget proposal a ” a vicious attack on the vulnerable,” “This budget is Trump and Pence’s latest vicious attack on the vulnerable. Health care for older Americans, basic help for the poor, protecting the environment, and work place safety will be decimated to provide a massive multi-billion windfall in tax cuts for the wealthy and more money to fund the most draconian immigration enforcement in history, a policy that is dividing families and destroying lives,” said Carey.
President Trump’s first budget didn’t exactly get rave reviews, even from Republicans, as word of its cuts spread on Capitol Hill Tuesday, reported The Huffington Post.
“I don’t think the president’s budget is going anywhere,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), arguing that the blueprint doesn’t say anything about his priorities, especially on health care reform. “It’s not a signal of mine, at all, and there’s a significant number of senators who agree with me.”
Democrats dismissed the budget for its health care cuts and unrealistic assumptions of economic growth.
“The Trump budget exists somewhere over the rainbow where the dreams of [Budget Director] Mick Mulvaney, Paul Ryan, and the Koch brothers really do come true,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “Of course, these dreams are a nightmare for the average working American.”
